Did the Jarvis St. bike lanes have to die for Mayor Rob Ford to support a network of separated bike lanes?

Removing the Jarvis St. bike lanes was an “important component” to getting Ford’s office on board with a network of separated bike lanes, public works committee chairman Denzil Minnan-Wong said Friday.

He said he believes north-south corridors are crucial to addressing gridlock and Jarvis is one of those corridors.

“But it was also important to the mayor’s office that removing Jarvis be included in the bikeway plan,” Minnan-Wong said. “It was an important component to getting (Ford’s) support and one of the reasons for that is we both agree it is an important north-south corridor to address congestion and gridlock.”